EdSurge News

A major civil rights deadline affecting schools and vendors will hit this month. Federal law has required accessibility for people with disabilities for decades, says Glenda Sims, chief information accessibility officer at Deque Systems, a company that specializes in digital accessibility. But two years ago, the federal government finally gave schools a way to measure whether their websites, mobile apps, and digital content were accessible under law when it released a “final rule.”

On April 24, the first deadline will hit. By then, institutions must ensure their web content and mobile apps comply with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1, a widely recognized accessibility standard that includes requirements such as a minimum contrast ratio and audio descriptions. But with the well-advertised deadline just days away, schools are well behind schedule.